In the context of music, it means that you should play the notes sharply, short, and completely detached from the notes before and after it.

This is the polar opposite of playing legato, which is another type of articulation telling the musician to play the notes smoothly and connected.

How to Notate Staccato

Staccato is notated with a dot either above or below the notehead, as shown in the image below.

If the stems of the notes point up, then the dot appears below the note, but it appears above the note when the stems face down.

Don’t confuse staccato with dotted notes. They look quite similar, but they mean something completely different (I’ll cover the differences later in this post).

What is Articulation?

Staccato is a type of articulation which is the word we use in music to talk about “how” to play a note, rather than what specific note we play.

There are seven primary articulation marks that every musician must learn:

1. Legato (slurs)
2. staccato
3. staccatissimo
4. accent
5. tenuto
6. fermata
7. marcato

Each articulation marking is notated differently. For example, here are all the various articulation markings:

And we’ve made a cheat sheet with each one and its definition.

Staccato vs Dotted Notes

It’s common when starting out learning music theory to confuse dotted notes with staccato markings.

Dotted notes are distinguished from staccato by appearing after the note head and mean something altogether different.

The dot after the note indicates that the note’s rhythm is extended by ½ the length of the note.

In other words, if you have a dot after an eighth note, then the duration of the note will be an eighth note plus a sixteenth note.

The difference between the two is that staccato is an articulation that refers to how the note is played, whereas the dot after the note is an indication of how long the note is sustained.

Examples of Staccato

Now, let’s see what types of music you can expect to hear that are synonymous with staccato rhythms.

Classical music has numerous styles that lend themselves to staccato rhythms.

Viennese waltzes come immediately to mind, as do polkas and more modern rhythms such as tangos.

Johann Straus’ waltzes are some of my favorite examples of the use of staccato.

The following compilation includes the very distinctive styles of staccato employed by violins, woodwinds, and brass instruments:

I don’t think that the next example of staccato rhythm could be mistaken for its unique contribution to the atmosphere and emotion of the tango.

Listening to the rhythm of tango certainly brings the sultry, smoky Buenos Aires dance scene to mind.

Another good example is Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, which contains a wonderful example of staccato strings producing a haunting mood throughout the 2^nd movement.

And here’s one more example in Vivaldi’s Concerto No. 1 in E Major, “Spring:” 1:

What is Staccatissimo?

You may have wondered what the differences are between staccato and staccatissimo.

Adding “issimo” to a term simply means “very”.

This is a term that is added to numerous marks and, in this case, refers to playing notes more heavily accented than staccato.

There is some difference of opinion on whether this mark was original to composers or was a later addition by an editor.

In any event, to notate Staccatissimo, instead of using a small dot below or above the note head, you instead use a wedge-shaped mark, as shown below.

Staccatissimo is found on many scores, but your interpretation of it will depend on your personal opinion and training.

In Conclusion

I hope that you now have a greater appreciation for the use of staccato in a musical score.

The magic of music is the ability to lift the spirit or soothe the soul and knowledge of articulation and the use of staccato as a means to convey emotion will help to improve your performance.

In this article, I’ll explain exactly what Legato is. We also look at when to use legato, and how you can improve your performance by following the musical notation, and what the difference between legato and tied notes is.

So, What is Articulation?

Before we get to legato, it will help to understand what articulation is in music.

Written languages, like English or French, all have rules of punctuation, so too does music.

These rules are what we refer to as articulation.

Without articulation, your music performance will suffer.

The music will be either very boring or open to broad interpretation.

Without rules, it would be very hard for you to convey the emotion and feeling that the composer had in mind.

Composers use articulation marks to convey to a musician how to sing or play each individual note.

These marks tell you how each note relates to the notes before and after it.

The seven major articulation marks include the legato (slur) and staccato.

What then is the difference between staccato and legato?

Legato or slur is a grouping of smooth, connected notes, while staccato is the opposite, being short and choppy.

Definition of Legato (Slur)

Legato is Italian for “tied together” and it is also referred to as a slur.

This notation indicates that the musical notes are played or sung smoothly and are connected to each subsequent note without a gap or pause.

It’s like writing words in cursive vs each letter on its own.

This produces fluid, flowing phrases that have no silence between each note.

Legato is thus the opposite of staccato, where the notes are short and distinct from one another.

How to Notate Legato

So how do you know when the composer wants you to produce the flowing, connected phrasing associated with legato?

The use of a curved line, starting on the first note and ending on the last note of the connected phrase, indicates a slur or legato.

For example, in the image below, the lines above the notes are telling us to play from the second note D to the Bb at the beginning of the 2nd bar legato and then the Eb to the A in the second bar legato too.

These phrases can be long, covering several bars or as short as between two adjacent notes.

Legato vs Tied Notes

It’s easy for a beginner to get confused between the notation for tied notes and legato, so how do you tell the difference?

At first glance, the tie and legato notations look very alike as for example here is a tied note.

Like a legato marking, it’s a sloped line between two or more notes.

But, the distinction is that ties connect two or more notes of the same pitch, whilst legato or slurs connect notes of different pitches.

It is the tied notes’ durations that are combined and played as a single longer note, combining the rhythmic value of each note.

A tie also has no intervening notes of different pitches.

Each adjoining note is connected to the next without a note between and can also extend from one measure to the next.

It is acceptable to tie more than two notes together, so long as they are of the same pitch.

Composers can also combine both slurs and tied notes in the same section of the music at the same time.

So, the legato marking indicates that the notes must be played in a smooth single phrase, without a break between notes.

Which Instruments Can Play Legato?

Depending on which instrument you’re playing, you can play legato in different ways.

For example, playing legato on bowed instruments such as the violin and cello is achieved through the use of a single movement from start to finish.

Musicians playing wind instruments such as the oboe and flute produce flowing legato by avoiding tonguing each note individually and through exceptional breath control and stamina.

Singers are similar and won’t breathe in between notes or might sing a passage legato using a single syllable.

A pianist can play legato notes in two ways either by using the technique of finger legato, or pedal legato using the sustain pedal.

But, excessive or inappropriate use of the sustain pedal will affect the overall tonal quality and clarity of your performance.

Examples of Legato

Due to the differences in construction, timbre, range of notes, and tuning, different instruments produce a variety of sounds when played legato.

Music composed for string instruments often includes legato phrases where notes of differing pitches are played on the same string to account for a single stroke of the bow.

Guitarists use similar techniques, including hammer-on and pull-offs with their fret-hand.

Pianists achieve a more satisfactory legato by playing the following note a little before the prior key has been lifted.

Woodwind instruments and some brass instruments like the trumpet and French horn excel at producing beautiful, sweeping legato passages with a single breath.

Here’s a good video showing the difference between staccato and legato on the piano.

Famous violinist Itzhak Perlman is famous for his ability to produce sweeping, gorgeous legato phrases, as evidenced by this performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8: “L’inverno” (Winter).

And finally, here’s a good example of legato played on a brass instrument.

In Conclusion

Mastering legato passages is a lifelong endeavor for amateur and professional musicians alike.

I hope that these tips on the nuances of playing legato passages help to improve your performances in the future.

In this post, we’ll focus on what articulation means in music, the multiple different types of articulation you could potentially see, and how to play them. 

Definition of Articulation

In music, articulation is a lot like punctuation in language. It tells us how to play a specific note or chord, outside of what specific note to play and for how long.

For example, let’s take a short melody:

The notes are in specific lines and spaces in the staff, and this tells us the pitches of the notes. The stems and tails of each note tell us they are all eighth notes (quavers).

The key signature on the left side (or lack thereof) tells us what key we’re in, and the time signature tells us how many beats per measure to play or sing. These things are always shown on all written music. 

Articulation is an additional parameter that tells the musician how to play or sing the notes. Each of the notes in the melody above can be played really short and disjointed, or they can be long and flow into each other.

Some can be accented or quieted compared to others around it, and some can be connected and some kept separate.

Types of Articulation Marks 

There are seven main articulation marks used in music.

These are:

• slur
• staccato
• staccatissimo
• accent
• tenuto
• fermata
• marcato

There are others, such as ornaments and dynamic markings like sforzando and (de)crescendo, but these are slightly different from articulation, and we’ll focus on just these ones for this article.

Here is the melody above, using all seven of the articulation marks listed:

Slurs (Legato)

A slur, also sometimes called a phrase mark, is the only type of articulation listed here that covers more than a single note. It indicates to the musician that they should play or sing multiple notes as one connected phrase.

For example, singers and wind instrument players shouldn’t take a breath between notes connected by a slur, and string instruments should play all of the notes with the same bow stroke.

This is called playing a phrase legato. 

In the melody above, the slur is the curved line between the two notes at the end (D – C). You can also have slurs that last for more than two notes, such as the ones in the melody below: 

Slurs are always between notes that are different pitches. Don’t get confused with tied notes, which are lines between notes that are the same pitch.

A good example of the use of slurs in music is the start of Mendelssohn’s “The Hebrides.” Each of the phrases are connected by slur markings and played legato: 

For more information, check out our post here covering what legato is in music.

Staccato

The opposite of playing legato is to play a note staccato. From the Italian word for “detached,” staccato means to play a specific note or group of notes separate from each other.

Every note that has a staccato marking (a dot above or below the note head) is played very short and is not to be attached to the note after it. 

The first note of the main melody above has a staccato mark below it.

Here’s another example in which all notes are played staccato. Notice how when the stems of the note face down, the staccato dot is above the note head, and it’s below the note head when the stem faces up:

Here is an example from the beginning of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C Minor. The descending lines in bars 2-3 and 6-7 are all played staccato:

Staccatissimo

In Italian, the suffix “-issimo” means “very” or “really,” so staccatissimo means to play the notes very staccato. This means extra short and keeps each note really detached from the ones around it. 

In the main melody written above, the staccatissimo marking is below note #5 (the A) — it looks like a small, filled-in pyramid.

Here is a short melody with all staccatissimo markings. Again, like all of the articulation marks, it is written above notes with the stems pointing down and above notes with the stems pointing up:

An example of staccatissimo can be found in Beethoven’s Sonata no. 21 in C Major, at the 0:46 second mark, starting at bar 30: 

Accent

An accent mark looks like this: >. It is a mark that tells the musician to accent a specific note by playing or singing it louder and with a stronger attack than notes that don’t have an accent.

It doesn’t affect the length of the note, meaning you don’t have to make it shorter than written (like staccato) or longer than written (like legato). 

The third note of the main melody has an accent mark over it. Here’s a short melody with all the notes accented:

Brahms uses accent in this passage in his Piano Concerto no. 2 in Bb Major to accentuate the triumphant melody: 

Marcato

A marcato articulation is like an accent mark but more intense. If staccatissimo means “very staccato,” think of Marcato as “very accented.”

It means to play the note or chord louder and more forcefully than the notes around it. It looks like a standing-up accent mark: ^. The fourth note (the B) of the main melody above has a marcato mark above it.

Here is another example. Notice that, unlike the accent mark, the marcato marking is always above the note it articulates, even if the note’s stem points upwards: 

Tenuto

A tenuto marking looks like a small line either above or below the note (again, depending on which way the stem is facing).

Meaning “to hold” in Italian, it is a direction for the musician to sustain the note that it’s marking for its full value.

This is different from legato playing, with slur markings, because you don’t necessarily merge one note into the following, and it’s different from staccato as well because you don’t want to shorten the note at all. 

It can sometimes mean playing the note slightly louder and longer than the notes around it, making it stand out, or potentially holding the note a bit longer than it’s written.

The third note of the main melody above has a tenuto marking, as does each note in this melody here: 

Scriabin uses tenuto markings in the opening piano solo in his Piano Concerto in F# Minor, starting at 0:23: 

Fermata (Pause)

A fermata is the only articulation mark that really changes the beat of the music being played.

Also referred to as a pause or hold, it indicates to the musician that they should hold that specific note, chord, or rest for longer than its typical value.

Sometimes, this can be a small difference, and the note only played a bit longer than normal, but sometimes the conductor or player can hold the note for as long as they want, causing the music to feel like it’s suspended and build anticipation for the next note. 

The fermata in the main melody above is on the third to last note, the G. It looks like an open circle facing down with a small dot inside it.

Here is another example of it (usually, it is found right before or at the end of a melody or a movement): 

Here is an example from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 3 in C Minor. Listen for the chord hold at 33:55 and then the single note hold (on G) at 34:14:

Instrument Specific Articulation

Articulation can vary depending on which instrument you are playing or if you’re singing in a choir.

For example, woodwind and brass players create articulation by tonguing, which is the use of the tongue to create and restrict airflow.

For these instruments, you can play legato by using the flat of your tongue, like in the word “la,” or play staccato by using the tip of the tongue, as in “tah.” 

With a stringed instrument, you can play pizzicato, which is plucking the string with your finger. This causes the notes to sound staccato but is different from regular staccato markings.

Playing with a bow rather than your finger is called arco, and you can play staccato, tenuto, or legato, all using a bow as well.

Legato is when you let the string vibrate between notes so that the sound of the note is sustained until the next note is played.

To play more staccato, touch the string with your hand or the bow to stop it from vibrating in between notes.

That’s It For Articulation

There are a lot of different articulation markings and even many more rare ones that this article doesn’t cover.

They can also be used to different effects in different contexts, so always check with the conductor or other players when you come across an articulation mark to make sure you know what they expect from it.